Marathon outfit?

Can't decide what to wear. My mom bought me a new skirt and arm warmers for my birthday at the expo yesterday at the Running Skirts booth. Thanks Mom! But, I might just go with a skirt I already have and wear the new one at my half marathon in 6 weeks. What do you think?

Go! Halloween 10k

We had a great time running with 5,000 others. I met my sister J and we ran from her house to the start, about 2 miles. There we met up with my parents, sister K, brother-in-law and nephew. The plan was to run together and NOT race. It is just too close to marathon day.
This was the also the first 10k for my sis and BIL. My parents hung out watched the race and my nephew. The girls stayed together with my BIL right behind. We ran fairly even splits, right around a 10:45-50. We had a great time seeing all the costumes, I felt relaxed and just enjoyed the day. Here is an after pic and finish line pic. I am in orange. We (the girls)went with a pirate theme.

I am SUPER nervous about the marathon Sunday do I am trying to channel my energy toward other things, like sewing and laundry. Oh, and I am trying to blog from my phone, we'll see how this turns out :)

Three Things Thursday- Pre Marathon

1.  TEN days until the marathon.  I am getting nervous already.   Last night we ran way too fast so I am going to have to really focus on not going out too fast as usual.

2.   I still have not planned my marathon outfit.  The good news is that my local running store is now selling Running Skirts  and Running Skirts will also be at the expo.  I have been wearing skirts for my long run so I don't think it would be an issue to get a new one as long as it fits the same as the others.  I may pick up a skirt at Big River Running so I can run it a couple of times to make sure it fits the same.  Right now I am leaning toward this one.

Isn't it pretty?

3.  I am running in a Halloween 10k this weekend with two of my sisters and my brother-in-law.  We are running it for fun, no racing!  We are going to wear some sort of pirate theme but all we have right now are matching socks.  Any suggestions for a pirate themed running outfit?

School finally started!

This week has been going well.   Sunday was a 14 miles at marathon pace.  We ran the first 2 at 11 minute miles, per our marathon plan.  Then ran the rest at 10 minute pace, pretty even splits.   My watch broke and I have yet to replace it so I am relying on what my sister tells me wile running and my memory:)

She doesn't like to have her picture taken

Monday was finally the first day of school!!! Yay.  The preschooler had a great day and I did stroller fit with the baby.  I worked the night shift Monday then got my 3 hours of sleep before being up with the kiddos the rest of the day.
 Tuesday was the first day of soccer so I planned my run around that.  I got a head start and ran to practice while the hubby and kids drove.  I got in 4.5 and still got to see the last part of practice.

Today has been crazy, I got up early so I could drop the baby off with grandpa.  Of course it was raining so I had to leave extra early.  I then had to drop of at preschool then I headed to work.  I ended up driving 90 minutes before I even got to work.  Luckily, I only had to work 5 hours then it was back out it the rain to pick up the kids. Of course, on my way out I slipped and slid down a muddy hill.  I was covered in mud.  I was wearing my white labcoat too so I am hoping that it will come out in the wash.  It rained all afternoon.  I was really dreading going out for a run.  My sister texted me she was still going to meet me.  Ugh, I was whiny but I got my crap together.  Workout was 4 miles at marathon pace then 4 miles fast.  We did the first 4 in 40:29 then did the next 4 in 35:xx. It stopped raining right before we started and was cool and overcast for our run.  So that's my week so far.  Our first 20 miler of this training cycle is this weekend!

Friday: a brief update.

Yup, it has been awhile since I blogged and I have a race report yet to do.  I have been running.  I also worked a few extra shifts the last couple of weeks.  Add in a wedding and a funeral all in one weekend and you get the gist.  I can't seem to add in blog updates as well:)  Today, however, I feel like crap.  My allergies are awful and I have a sinus headache.  My awesome hubby dropped off some meds for me, we were out here, so I wouldn't have to get the kids up and out just to run to the drugstore.  The baby is currently down for a nap and my 4 year old is watching way too much Dora.  I'll make it up to her next week when I am NOT working any extra shifts and will hopefully be feeling better:) She doesn't start school until after Labor Day so we have some summer left.
We have our long run of 17 miles this weekend so I hope that will go well.  Last weekend was a drop back week but we ran at marathon pace (10 miles).  We ended up with a 9:50 pace so I was thrilled with that. I think our actual pace will be in the 10-10:30 range but we will se how it goes.
My brain is still in a fog and I cannot for the life of me think so that is all I have for now! Have a good weekend!  Looking forward to some Hood to Coast recaps next week!

Chicago Trip

A mostly non running update with lots of pictures. We went on a short family vacation to Chicago. My parents went with us so that was fun. The weather was great. It was easily 20 degrees cooler there. I felt like I could actually breathe again. We still have the stifling heat here, it has been 100 degrees without the heat index. Ugh. So I was happy to be enjoying the breeze from Lake Michigan.

After we got there late afternoon on Monday, We walked down Michigan Ave and over to the beach. The kids got to play in the sand for awhile. We watched the triathletes in there wetsuits doing an open water swim.



I got up early Tuesday and ran from the hotel, down to the Chicago Riverwalk which led to the Lake Shore Trail. I only covered about 3 miles but I figured the kids would be up, which they were.



We started out early for the Shedd Aquarium. The kids had a great time.


We did everything we could possibly do before leaving mid afternoon and taking a water taxi to Navy Pier. We had some Ben and Jerry's before heading back for a quick rest before dinner. We had some Chicago style pizza. I had some spinach and broccoli, while the family had sausage. My 4 year old did not like the "brown" stuff(the sausage) and picked it off, you can see in this picture. The baby however, loved it.


Wednesday we headed to Millennium Park where they had free music,crafts and activities for the kids.


My kids were a little worn out this day and not so into it. It also started raining so we had to regroup before we decided to head back toward Navy Pier. I was going to take them to the Children's Museum there but by time we got there it was time for lunch, then my 4 year old wanted to do the ferris wheel. We decided to start her on the smaller rides, the carrousel and the lighthouse.


The lighthouse one cured her of wanting to do the ferris wheel and we headed over for some more beach time. This time the kids got there feet wet before we headed back. I should mention we had a stroller and an Ergo carrier so we let the 4 year old walk as much as she could and when she got too tired we either put her in the stroller or on Grandpa's shoulders and I carried the baby in the Ergo.

We ended Wednesday with dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. The kids enjoyed that very much and I had a veggie burger with guacamole and a beer so I have no complaints. We even had time to stop at the Sports Authority where I used a coupon and got a hat(free). Yay for awesome coupons!

On Thursday, it was time to head home but on the way back we stopped at Starved Rock State Park for a short hike and a picnic lunch. Did I mention there was a Trader Joe's a half block from our hotel? My four year old seemed to really enjoy leading the group and we wore her out so she slept almost the whole way home. The baby was a little more difficult. Lets's just say it was a long drive.




My little hiking partner.

On a running note, I got a 6 mile run done on the treadmill at the y. I was avoiding the heat:)

What We Are Eating- Lunch

I was reading on Lil' Runner that she was looking for vegetarian lunch ideas for the kids, other than peanut butter.  My 4 year old doesn't like peanut butter *gasp* so I felt inspired to post what I give my kids for lunch.  I have been a vegetarian for 19 years. I generally give them a serving of dairy or protein,fruit and/or veggie for lunch depending on what I have on hand.  I try to sneak in some healthy (monounsaturated) fats too.  Those are found in olive oil, avocados,nuts.
My kids are good eaters so I can give them just about anything.   My 4 year old loves yogurt in any form. She will ask for it several times a day so I have to limit her to 2-3 servings a day.  I usually buy plain greek yogurt and she picks from the fruit we have on hand, fresh or frozen, to add to it.  Sometimes we add granola, chopped nuts, she has even added sunflower and pumpkin seeds, not my idea.  Other times we make smoothies to have either as a snack or to freeze into pops.  Today she picked an apple and baby carrots to go into the smoothie.  I just peeled the apple and chopped everything up a little, tossed it in the blender to puree then added some plain yogurt.   I am used to cooking fruits and veggies before pureeing them.  We made our own baby food.  But it really didn't turn out bad.    If she goes to the store with me she like the little cups so I will let her get a couple that don't have high fructose corn syrup.  The 17 month old is liking the yogurt now too so I go through a lot of yogurt each week.

I take random pics of our lunches.

Another staple is chickpeas or hummus.  They love dipping veggies, pita,chips, whatever into hummus.  The baby will just bypass the dipping and eat the hummus plain, like with her hands, really gross to clean up.  They also eat chickpeas just tossed in salads, or in couscous.  I used to make couscous a lot more but the baby hasn't quite perfected the spoon thing and she makes a huge mess with it.  Couscous all over the floor is a pain to clean up.  Today I had some chickpeas leftover from my lunch so the baby ate them as a snack, plain.

  Last week I had goat cheese and they enjoyed putting that on their strawberries, grapes, and blueberries. The 4 year old likes salads too.  I usually use spinach as the "lettuce"  My 4 year old actually calls spinach, lettuce.  I let her pick what she wants to put on it.  She likes veggies raw.  If they are cooked, she is likely to turn up her nose.  She doesn't like them "mushy."
There are also the old standbys of cheese quesadillas, grilled cheese, chickenless nuggets, or leftovers from last night's dinner.

Now this is what I give them.  Of course when they go to grandma's or great-grandma's they get things like cinnamon rolls, yes for lunch.  My grandma gave them american cheese for lunch on Tuesday and they didn't like it.  She was shocked and asked me about it, I don't like it, so I don't buy it.  I usually give them cheddar or string cheese.

So that's what we are eating here.  And know you know we are a vegetarian, make our own baby food,cloth diapering family:)